Page 2 of Dangerous Affair (The Phoenix Three #2)

“I got one for you,” Cooper Devlin said.

Grayson Montana groaned. “Not another dad joke. I beg you.”

“You might as well try to stop the tide,” Liam said to his friend as they sat on the deck of Grayson’s beach house. Cooper had an entire book of dad jokes in his head.

“What do you call a fake noodle?” Cooper grinned when no answer was forthcoming. “An impasta.”

“Don’t encourage him,” Grayson said when Liam chuckled, but there was amusement in his eyes.

“Sorry, that laugh slipped out. Won’t happen again.”

Cooper clutched his chest. “Bro, you wound me. You love my dad jokes. Admit it.”

What he loved were these two men. Getting kidnapped sucked, but he wouldn’t change a thing. An act of violence had brought these men he considered his brothers into his life. Didn’t matter they weren’t of his blood, they were his family.

The three of them had started The Phoenix Three because of being kidnapped when they were teens.

They’d bonded during their time in captivity and had become the best of friends.

After graduating high school, each of them had enlisted in the military to learn the skills necessary to plan and complete missions.

The Phoenix Three’s purpose was to save children who’d been kidnapped like they had been, to find runaway children and get them help before the streets ate them up, even to save children from the very people who were supposed to love and protect them.

Really, just to save children whenever and wherever they could.

It was a mission they each had dedicated their lives to and fervently believed in.

They’d dreamed up the idea of doing this work when they’d been young and idealistic…and very naive. But they’d made it happen, and Liam felt a sense of completion and satisfaction that he never would have achieved working for his father.

When he’d told his father he was enlisting in the Marines, they’d had a fierce argument, his father refusing to understand why Liam needed to do that. What his father didn’t understand was that the kidnapping had changed Liam.

If there had been another son to groom for the business, maybe his father wouldn’t have disowned him. He’d never know. How things had gone down between them was a hurt Liam kept buried and tried not to think about.

Tyler, the son of Grayson’s fiancée, raced out the door with the energy only a five-year-old possessed. “I’m here! Let’s go surfing.”

Liam chuckled. The kid already had on his wet suit. Grayson had said Tyler took to surfing as if he’d been born on a surfboard.

“Do you have any homework you need to do first?” Grayson asked.

“Mama said I could do it after we surf.”

“All right then. Let me put on my wet suit.” Grayson eyed the ocean. “The waves are good today.”

Five minutes later, man and boy were walking across the sand, Tyler’s surfboard half the size of Grayson’s. Of the three of them, Grayson had the best role model for a father, no doubt why he’d fallen into the role as a father to Tyler so easily.

“Grayson told me that Harlow’s ex has been writing her, demanding she bring Tyler to see him,” Cooper said.

“That bastard might as well wish for the moon to fall in his lap.”

Cooper grunted his agreement.

Tyler’s no-good father was in prison for murder. He didn’t give two figs for his son. He was just trying to manipulate Harlow. Harlow had hired The Phoenix Three to help her get her son back. They had, and Grayson and Harlow had fallen in love.

It was a warm summer day, but there was a nice sea breeze and big fluffy white clouds floated by, blocking the sun about the time it started to feel too hot. Liam hadn’t slept much the past few days, and his eyes slid closed.

“They’re coming in.”

He blinked awake and focused his gaze on Cooper. “What?”

“They’ve been surfing for an hour, and now they’re coming in. Enjoy your nap?”

Actually, he had. He shifted his gaze to the ocean. Grayson rode the small wave next to the boy he planned to adopt. The two of them grinned at each other as they hit shallow water and hopped off their boards. Grayson held up his hand and they high-fived.

His friend lived on the beach, had found a wonderful woman, and had fallen in love with her and her son.

His life was about perfect. Liam was happy for Grayson, and although he tried not to be envious, he was.

He hadn’t let himself be serious about a woman while he was in the military.

As a Special Ops Marine Raider, he’d lived a dangerous life and was gone more than he was home.

That wasn’t conducive to having a relationship.

Now that he was out of the military, he was ready to settle down and find his own happiness.

The dating scene—going out to clubs, one-night stands, and meeting women who were just out to have fun—wasn’t his thing. Also, and surprisingly, he wanted kids, something he’d started thinking about after seeing how much Grayson enjoyed being around Tyler.

“Are they finally coming in?” Harlow said, joining them on the deck. She carried a bucket of beers on ice that she set on the table.

“Looks like.” Liam grabbed a bottle and twisted off the cap. “I think they’re going to turn into fish as much time as they spend in the ocean.”

“But such cute fishies,” Harlow said. She smiled fondly at the man and boy as they walked across the sand, carrying their boards.

Liam grinned. “Well, the little one, anyway.”

“Yeah, the word cute just doesn’t cut it with the big one,” Cooper said.

“Hush, both of you. My boys are the cutest things ever.” Harlow moved the beer bucket to the other side of the table, away from them. “No more beer for either of you until you take it back.”

“Do I need to kill them for you, love?” Grayson said as he joined them on the deck.

Tyler raced up the stairs behind him. “Please don’t kill them, Dad. I like Liam and Cooper.”

“Hey, I was just kidding, okay?” He put his hand on top of Tyler’s head. “Why don’t you go change out of your wet suit?” After he ran inside, Grayson gave Harlow an embarrassed smile. “I need to remember that kids take things literally.”

“Like when he asked what the brown things in his soup were and you told him monkey toes?” Harlow said. “He’ll never eat cream of mushroom soup again.”

A snort escaped from Liam. Although she was going for stern, he picked up on the amusement in her voice.

Grayson grimaced. “Uh…sorry?”

“Bro,” Cooper said. “You gotta work on your jokes.”

“Wait. Back up a minute.” Liam pointed his bottle at Grayson. “Tyler calls you Dad?” That was big.

“Yeah. Started that a few days ago. Said he needs to practice getting used to it for when his mommy marries me. Kid owns my heart, man.” He and Harlow shared an intimate smile.

That. That right there was what he wanted. A family of his own. A woman who looked at him like that. He just needed to find her.